Former Oregon men’s basketball player Brandon Austin has not been charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in November while he attended Providence College, according to Austin’s lawyer, Laura Fine Moro.

Fine Moro said a grand jury declined to indict both Austin and his roommate, Rodney Bullock, who was also allegedly involved in the November assault.

“The grand jury heard the evidence, including 3 hours of testimony by the complaining witness, and the grand jury declined to indict,” Fine Moro wrote in an email Tuesday afternoon.

Brandon Austin played for Providence before transferring to Oregon in January midway through his freshman season after he and Bullock were suspended for “not upholding their responsibilities as student-athletes.” Austin sat out the rest of the season after redshirting.

Austin was dismissed from the Ducks in April and from campus in June following his involvement in another sexual assault investigation in Eugene. Austin was not charged for that alleged assault, either.

Correction: A previous version of this story said Austin and Bullock had been cleared of sexual assault charges. As the Rhode Island grand jury report said, the grand jury determined there was “insufficient evidence” to charge Austin and Bullock, which is not the same as clearing them of charges. 

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WARNING: This story may trigger some readers.

Jessica Brown informed her family, friends and the police immediately after she was sexually assaulted. She received incredible support after that horrific night in April 2001, but the incident still ate at her.

Whenever she left her suburban home, she’d tell her father, “Watch me walk from the front door to the car,” just to be safe. She felt ashamed for wearing “pretty underwear” the night of the assault. As supportive as her friends and family were, none of them could possibly know what she was going through.

So Brown, 27 years old at the time, searched the Internet for some place to get support. About a month after she was assaulted, she stumbled upon Pandora’s Aquarium, a message board where sexual assault survivors could post their stories. Brown wrote her story under an anonymous name. When she clicked submit, she felt relieved but also terrified. She was sharing her story with the world. Would people react kindly?

Her fears dissipated. She got support from people who experienced the same pain, and it helped her heal.

“That might be one drawback to posting on Facebook anonymously,” Brown said. “You don’t know who your audience is.”

Recently, several survivors have posted anonymously on Facebook in search of the same healing Brown sought 13 years ago.

From June 15-29 of this year, the University of Oregon Confessions Facebook page posted four stories from anonymous survivors. Commenters unanimously supported these confessors at first, but the tone shifted when the third post appeared on June 24. One commenter asked the confessor, “How about you stop sulking about your past and live up your summer?” and several said the page was the wrong platform for survivors.

Debate raged on the page into July, causing several people to question UO Confessions’ true purpose.

While people like Brown believe an anonymous outlet can be cathartic for survivors, others dispute the real value of these survivor accounts. Are these people getting help elsewhere? Which forum is best for them? And what do these posts say about a culture where rape permeates?

To post a Facebook confession, someone simply has to click a link on the confessions page, write a short post and submit it. If the administrators deem a confession worthy of publication, they post it. The UO Confessions administrators declined to comment for this story.

But even these postings leave a digital footprint. Sameer Hinduja, a professor at Florida Atlantic University and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, said while confessions page administrators don’t know the writers’ identities, law enforcement can still work with social media platforms to determine who submits each confession if a possible crime is involved.

If police have enough specific information to pursue an investigation, they could have a court subpoena the page and discover the poster’s identity, according to University of Oregon Police Department spokesman Kelly McIver. However, that still doesn’t guarantee an admission from the confessor.

“You’d have to have a pretty interesting confluence of circumstances to find a person who said, ‘Yeah, I posted this,’” said McIver, who strongly encourages people to report all crimes and suspicious conditions to the police.

Facebook confession pages started gaining popularity about a year and a half ago and the UO Confessions page was created in December 2012. The confessions page for Chico State encountered a similar situation to UO Confessions. On March 24 of this year, the first of eight survivor posts appeared on Chico College Confessions, and the rest appeared over the next two months.

One of the Chico page’s administrators, Alberto Chavez, remembers feeling shocked when these submissions starting rolling in, but he didn’t want to ignore them, so the stories were posted. Unlike UO Confessions, almost every comment supported the survivors.

“We were glad we did put that on the page because I think the (survivors) got the help they needed,” Chavez says.

Like UO Confessions, many Chico commenters suggested survivors get help elsewhere, but some seemed commanding. BB Beltran, the executive director of Sexual Assault Support Services, believes suggesting survivors get help elsewhere is problematic.

“The problem comes in when the word ‘should’ is used,” Beltran says.

She stresses that survivors should do what they think is most helpful. If posting on a Facebook page accomplishes that, she fully supports it.

Several UO Confessions commenters argue that the page’s sole purpose is to be humorous.

“The greater majority of these students have not dealt with rape or sexual assault firsthand, and do not know how to react when such a topic is mentioned,” said Duncan Alexander, a junior business and economics major at the UO.

Alexander, who knows a survivor, said these posts might provide instant relief, but feels this might prevent survivors from getting more meaningful help.

Christina Cooley, a senior cultural anthropology major, agrees that UO Confessions might not be the best place for this kind of discussion because its audience isn’t receptive to these types of confessions. Many commenters have told the survivors not to share their stories on the page.

“That’s the kind of commentary that keeps it from being resolved, that keeps people silent and suffering from it,” she said.

These posts might be discomforting to read, but Cooley said that it might be a good thing because it could cause people to consider the seriousness of this issue.

Carol Stabile, a UO professor and director of the Center for the Study of Women in Society said, “someone pays for the party.” In other words, people often suffer in a party culture like the one emphasized on UO Confessions, and she believes people should be able to talk on this page about the party culture’s casualties (i.e. rape survivors).

Survivors often feel hesitant to report assaults, Stabile said, because a stigma attaches to so many who come forward. Plus, the criminal justice system often fails to punish perpetrators. Maybe some survivors feel the only place they can go is an anonymous online forum.

“Where else are you going to do it where it’s less consequence-free?” Stabile said.

Multiple commenters on the UO Confessions page have mentioned support groups like SASS where survivors can get help while remaining anonymous. Beltran said in general it’s standard practice for community-based agencies similar to SASS to offer anonymous services.

While agencies like SASS, Facebook confessions pages, applications such as Whisper and bathroom walls have served as anonymous outlets for survivors, Pandora’s Aquarium (expanded into Pandora’s Project) might be the most popular destination for these people.

“Over 50,000 have passed through our virtual doors,” Brown said of Pandora’s Project. “It’s international.”

Brown, the organization’s co-founder, said while counseling services offered at universities can be helpful, their schedules are often too limited (the UO offers a 24-hour hotline for survivors).

“When you’ve been sexually assaulted, you’re dealing with that all week long,” Brown said. “You might be sitting there at 2 o’clock in the morning and something’s eating you alive and it’s really helpful just to post your feelings.”

But Brown also said that every survivor heals differently. Ultimately, she thinks the worst thing survivors can do is keep their experiences to themselves. Simply getting it off their chest can be healing, which is why she believes a Facebook confessions page might be a great place for survivors to flock.

“It’s just one way of saying, ‘I’m not going to let this shame control me,’” Brown said.

Jennica Asbury contributed reporting for this story

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The Hutchinson Community College athletic department refuted reports that former Oregon men’s basketball player Brandon Austin would transfer to the Kansas community college.

“There’s no story,” Hutchinson head men’s basketball coach Steve Eck told The Emerald, reflecting what he told The Register-Guard earlier this afternoon. “There’s no truth to that right now.”

Eck said Austin is interested in going to Hutchinson but an official transfer to the school is not final. Hutchinson sport information director Steve Carpenter echoed Eck’s statements, saying Austin has not signed a letter of intent and is not enrolled in the school.

Eck’s statements conflict with Monday night’s report from JucoJunction.com and with Austin’s attorney, Laura Fine Moro. A spokesperson for Fine Moro told The Emerald Tuesday afternoon that Austin was transferring to Hutchinson but added that Eck probably had better information on the matter.

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The Eugene Police Department cited nine individuals for possession of illegal fireworks, according to EPD statistics gathered from 8 p.m. on July 4 to 2 a.m. on July 5.

The court will decide the punishment for each defendant convicted of this offense. The maximum penalty for this violation is a $2,500 fine and six months in jail.

UPDATE (7:36 a.m. July 6): Scott Fellman of EPD said the department averaged three illegal firework citations per year the preview few years.

EPD also received 165 total illegal fireworks calls between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. last night, although that number was preliminary as of Saturday morning. This is the second-lowest number of calls EPD received on the night of July 4 since 2009. The lowest was 133 in 2010, and the highest was 247 last year.

In addition to the nine citations, EPD reported 59 contacts made by enforcement detail regarding firework use from 8 p.m.-2 a.m last night. In 16 contacts, police officers advised people about their firework use. When officers arrived on the scene of 35 other contacts, the people were either gone or the scenes were quiet. The final eight contacts involved unfounded complaints or resolved cases.

The department also reported zero social host warnings, citations or arrests.

Eugene residents have another day and a half to use legal fireworks in city limits. After Sunday, legal fireworks are not allowed for use until Dec. 31 to Jan. 1. Eugene City Council recently passed an ordinance limiting firework use to those two days at the end of the year and from June 23 to July 6.

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Former Oregon acrobatics and tumbling athlete Chelsea Shaw was named head acrobatics and tumbling coach Thursday evening, Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens announced Thursday evening. Shaw, who is taking over for her former coach Felecia Mulkey, was a member of the first two Oregon teams that won National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) national championships. Shaw just finished her first and only season as the head coach at Gannon University.

“It’s such an incredible honor to be given the opportunity to work with these uniquely talented young women at the university I love and believe in,” Shaw said in a press release. “I plan to dedicate every ounce of my energy to building upon the winning tradition this team has built. I look forward to a fifth national championship and to innovating and excelling still more.”

Gannon didn’t have an acrobatics and tumbling team until last year, and the school chose Shaw to lead the Lady Knights in 2013-14. Shaw told The Emerald in February that she “really wanted to coach” following her successful career as an athlete.

“Since this sport is so rapidly growing, I knew that eventually there would be a job that would open up and hopefully I would be considered for it,” Shaw said.

Last season turned out to be a success for Gannon, who reached the NCATA quarterfinals last season after a 5-5 regular season record.

When she competed at Oregon, Shaw earned NCATA All-American honors following her junior and senior seasons.

“As a former student-athlete at the University of Oregon, she brings a unique perspective on an outstanding student-athlete experience. With her infectious enthusiasm for the University of Oregon and the sport of acrobatics and tumbling, our program will continue to compete for championships,” Mullens said in a press release.

Shaw is taking the most successful team in the short history of college acrobatics and tumbling. In April, the Ducks won their fourth straight national championship. Mulkey had been Oregon’s head coach since its debut season in 2009-10 (the only season Oregon didn’t win the national championship). Exactly one month ago, Mulkey left the program to become the head coach at Baylor.

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The Oregon softball team signed Nebraska transfer Hailey Decker, the Oregon athletic department announced Thursday morning. Decker will be able to play for the Ducks immediately next season.

“We are extremely excited to have Hailey on board,” Oregon head coach Mike White said in a press release. “She will make an immediate impact in the middle of our lineup. We recruited her heavily out of high school and it’s very nice to be able to bring an in-state player back to Oregon.”

Decker is a native of Keizer, Oregon and just finished a successful sophomore campaign as an infielder for the Cornhuskers. Decker was named first team All-Midwest Region, first team All-Big Ten and academic All-Big Ten last season, in which she hit 14 home runs and posted team-highs in batting average (.369), hits (80), doubles (21) and RBIs (53).

Decker faced the Ducks as a freshman for Nebraska during the 2013 NCAA Super Regionals in Eugene. She went 3-for-10 with two doubles to help lead the Cornhuskers to a series victory over Oregon.

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To avoid citation or even arrest for illegal firework possession, the public turned in commercially-manufactured retail fireworks on Saturday at the Eugene Springfield Fire and Eugene Police Fireworks Turn In. Approximately 200 pounds of fireworks were turned in at Emergency Services Training Center, which was open Saturday from 10 a.m-4 p.m. or until the limited capacity was reached.

Last week, the Eugene City Council passed an ordinance that cracked down on illegal fireworks and limited the periods of time residents could use legal fireworks. Legal fireworks, which includes fountains, spinners and wheels, can be sold and used for just 16 days a year — between June 23 and July 6 and on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

“Legal fireworks produce only smoke, sparks or fire but DO NOT explode, eject balls or fire, fly into the air more than 12 inches or travel more than six feet on the ground,” the Eugene Police Department wrote in a press release.

Fire crackers, bottle rockets and roman candles are some of the fireworks that Oregon residents cannot legally possess. Illegal firework possession is a class B misdemeanor, and if someone is caught with illegal fireworks, he or she can face a maximum punishment of $2,500 and six months in jail.

UPDATE (9:29 a.m. June 30): EPD spokesman Scott Fellman said 18 people came to turn in fireworks and the cargo trailer on site used to take the fireworks away did not get filled.

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New Approach Oregon turned in at least 145,710 signatures to the Oregon Secretary of State Thursday morning, easily qualifying a measure to regulate marijuana on Oregon’s November ballot. This measure will allow voters to decide on marijuana regulation, legalization and taxation.

“It’s time to stop wasting taxpayer dollars on treating marijuana use as a crime,” New Approach Oregon’s press secretary Peter Zuckerman said in a press release. “Prohibition of marijuana is ineffective, costs the state tax revenue and fuels violence. It’s time to try something new.”

Six months ago today, regulated sales of marijuana in Colorado began. Colorado and Washington are the only two states that have legalized marijuana. Two years ago, Oregon voters defeated Ballot Measure 80, which would have legalized and regulated the sale and growth of marijuana in the state.

The proposal intends for eight ounces of marijuana at home and one in public to be legal in Oregon. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission would be in charge of regulating sales and distribution, and tax revenue would be divided among police, schools and drug prevention and mental health programs if the proposal materializes.

New Approach Oregon leaders said in a news conference Thursday that they hope to hear a decision on their proposal from the Secretary of State’s office within the next three weeks. The office has over a month to vet the signatures.

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John Clune, the attorney for the survivor of the alleged sexual assault committed by three Oregon men’s basketball players in March, sent The Emerald a response to the statement released Tuesday night by the three players’ lawyers.

Clune’s statement came less than two hours after the statement from the players’ lawyers, who are Shaun McCrea, Laura Fine Moro and Greg Veralrud. The three attorneys said their clients engaged in consensual sex throughout the night of the incident, thus making them innocent, but they believe the University “all but declared these young men guilty,” when they were dismissed from the team on April 30.

Clune’s response in full:

This is a pretty poorly spun version of the night in question which noticeably omits all of the facts that incriminated their clients. The description doesn’t mention that two of the three men admitted in police recorded phone calls that what they did to the victim that night was wrong with one of the men calling their behavior, “very inappropriate and not something he would want to happen to his mother or sister.” The the third man who refused to give a statement is facing his second sexual assault allegation in the past year.

I won’t blame the lawyers though as they are trying to help their clients explain some pretty ugly facts.

The attorneys for the three Oregon men’s basketball players suspended from the university for at least four years, released a joint statement to The Emerald on Tuesday night.

Shaun McCrea represents Damyean Dotson, Laura Fine Moro represents Brandon Austin and Greg Veralrud — who released a statement of his own Monday night — represents Dominic Artis.

Dotson, Artis and Austin were all accused of sexually assaulting a woman on March 9. The Lane County District Attorney dropped the case against the three players on April 14, citing “insufficient evidence to prove charge(s) beyond a reasonable doubt.” The players, who were all guards, were dismissed from the team on April 30, and were suspended from the University of Oregon on Monday for up to 10 years, depending on how long the alleged survivor stays on campus.

The statement below contains information from witnesses during the night of the incident, including a taxi driver who transported the alleged victim and the three players to Artis and Dotson’s apartment. It also included a text message exchange between the alleged survivor and her friend from the morning directly after the incident.

John Clune, the attorney for the alleged survivor, responded to this statement with a statement later on Tuesday night.

Here is the full statement, entitled “Several Inconvenient Truths”:

No jury would find that Dominic Artis, Brandon Austin or Damyean Dotson committed any form of sexual assault against their accuser. Some people will insist that the University’s suspension is proof that the acts occurred, but they would be wrong. This determination was carved in stone the day the University’s president, in response to a hail of local and national criticism, all but declared these young men guilty and dismissed them from the team. Good political cover, bad principle. It’s absurd to expect that his underlings in the Legal & Student Affairs Departments would deviate from that line.

The process for determining student code violations is not well understood by the general public. There are few safeguards in the process to ensure that evidence is accurately and adequately presented and impartially considered. The University decides what information it will share, it decides what information will be considered, and it sets the ground rules for how information is presented. The University has power to subpoena witnesses; the accused student has none. Our repeated requests to the university to use that power to bring in witnesses to testify on behalf of the accused were ignored.

Perhaps most troubling is the lack of a meaningful opportunity to confront or examine the accuser with the assistance of counsel. The rules specifically forbid attorneys from asking questions of witnesses. Generally, citizens who face the loss of significant property rights or opportunities at the hands of the state are afforded these protections. In the case involving these young men, their requests for those types of safeguards were denied. Testimony from independent guests at the party who witnessed certain behavior, a cab driver who likewise made relevant observations, and witnesses who had information about the accuser’s subsequent statements about these events were not available. All the facts did not come out. These three young men were denied impartial justice.

So what are the facts?

The accuser went to a late night party in early March. The three young men were already present. Her interest in one of these men was immediate and obvious. She was flirtatious and chatty, and she began dancing suggestively for him. She rubbed her buttocks against him. She disappeared into another room twice with the young men. There was no verbal or physical force applied in any respect. She complained to no one at the party that she was being forced into anything. When another female student entered the room, the accuser and two of the male students were (she noted) fully clothed, chatting comfortably. The presence of that woman made the accuser uncomfortable, and she left the room of her own volition. She returned to the room on her own and expressly told the second woman to stay out. While in the room with the men (first with two and then with three of them), she initiated and engaged in sexual contact with them. Her demeanor for the most part that evening was laughing, chatting and flirting.  She seemed enthusiastically impressed with meeting these basketball players.

The accuser’s claim of coercion breaks down completely as the party ended that night. Her friends had arranged for a ride home, but the accuser refused to go with them, even after they told her (unnecessarily, given the fact that she had already been involved in sexual activity with the young men on two occasions during the party) that they only wanted her for sex. She opted for the cab ride with the young men, climbed in and sat on one of the male’s lap. The cab driver described the conversation as lighthearted and talking about sports. He described the accuser as seeming very impressed and “excited to be hanging out with U of O basketball players.”

It’s difficult to reconcile the foregoing account with the accuser’s subsequent claims that she was raped and sexually assaulted on two separate instances at the party prior to getting into the cab. Some skepticism of the foregoing account would be understandable if the source of the information was the three young men. However, all of the above information comes from other guests at the party, the accuser’s friends, the cab driver and the accuser’s own descriptions.

The night was not over at that point. The group reached one of the young men’s apartment. The accuser asked for something more comfortable to wear and changed clothes. She asked for a hair tie. The sexual activity continued. All agree that at one point during sexual activity, the accuser began to tear up. All sexual activity stopped at that point. One of the young men consoled her, asking what was wrong. All the young men seemed surprised at her reaction.

Again, some skepticism would be understandable if this description came solely from the three young men. However, the accuser herself told the investigator “They seemed honestly like ‘why are you crying,’ they were honestly surprised.” They were honestly surprised. They were honestly surprised because she had willingly initiated and participated in sex with them throughout the evening.

The young woman spent the night with one of the men and had consensual sex with him the next morning, a fact she omitted when speaking with her father and two police detectives during initial police interviews. When police were advised by one of the two young men who cooperated completely with the police investigation that this activity had occurred, the officer returned to ask the accuser if this was true. At that point, she reluctantly admitted it was true.

This young woman received a text message the morning after from another female party guest who had seen her get into the cab with the young men. When asked how her night had gone, the accuser texted back, “Very interesting. Ha ha.” It’s hard to see this description of an alleged rape as anything other than flippant.”

One of her friends noted that when the accuser first told her about her sexual experience that night, the accuser made no reference or claim of any coercion or force. This friend told authorities that she thought it was unusual that a day later the story changed to rape.

The accuser’s claim that she was too drunk to resist the advances of the young men are likewise irreconcilable with the facts presented by two of her own acquaintances. They describe her consumption of modest amounts of alcohol earlier in the evening. Neither of the two noted any indication of visible intoxication.

All of this information is completely consistent with the three young men’s statements. They have repeatedly and consistently said that she was a willing participant and that she initiated some of the sexual activity.

Why did she make these claims?

The accuser left the party with the young men in a public way and with knowledge of what was going to happen. She left with the young men against the advice of her friends who also knew was going to happen. When she shared details of her sexual exploits with a friend the next day, she realized that her conduct did not meet with universal approval. Text messages between the friends bear this out. Now shamed and embarrassed, she had to turn the story around to reclaim her dignity. And she did so at the expense of three young men.

The inconvenient truth is that the only evidence that this young woman was coerced or intoxicated comes solely from her. Her claims are contradicted either directly or indirectly by every other witness or event that evening.

So why has there been so little interest on the part of the university or its various detractors in determining the truth?

In short, it’s inconvenient. Inconvenient to a university that was in the midst of trumpeting its compliance with Title IX requirements relating to its handling and investigation of complaints of sexual assault. Inconvenient to other factions within The University who were insisting upon changes in how The University dealt with these matters. This event was a vehicle to carry forth those agendas. These factions needed a presumption of guilt rather than innocence to drive their cause.

It is inconvenient for The University to consider the validity of the Lane County District Attorney’s decision not to prosecute this conduct. A decision from a District Attorney who aggressively prosecutes sexual assault and crimes of violence against women, often based on little more than a victim’s claim of assault. When we, as attorneys, learned of the District Attorney’s assessment of the credibility of this accusation, we knew it was significant.

We support firm policies against sexual violence. We want all students on campus to feel safe in their learning environment. But in the rush to judgment in the matter of these three young men, justice was not served. The process The University uses to investigate must include safeguards so that the accused are treated with fairness and impartiality. The points we have made illustrate just some of the many problems within the current system. Problems we hope The University will address as they undertake to re-examine and overhaul their procedures.